Pipe-wrench.



PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

0. 'H. THURISTON.

k PIPE WRENCH.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. a, 1903 N0 MODEL.

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Avwt I Hlfarn 3 UNITED STATES Patented August 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. THURSTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, W. H. GARDINER, JR. OF CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS, C. N. WHITING AND W. B. NICHOLS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND

W. S. GRIFFITH, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, TRUSTEES.

PIPE-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part 'of Letters Patent No. 767,532, dated August 16, 1904.

Application filed November 3, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. THURS'ION, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Wrenches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is the construction of a pipe-wrench which shall consist of the minimum number of parts put together 4 in the simplest and easiest possible manner, and hence economical to manufacture, which shall be convenient to operate, particularly in letting go, and which shall at the same time be strong and durable in use.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, showing a section of pipe in the grasp of the wrench. Fig. 2 is an under view of the wrench. Fig. 3 is a side View of the Wrench with its handle portion broken off, showing it in the position of being adjusted to fit a section of pipe. Fig. A is a side view, partly in section, showing a modified form of the wrench;

The reference-numeral 1 designates the handle-section of the wrench, 2 being the handle proper, 3 the main body, and 4 the fixed jaw, having downwardly pointed teeth 5. The movable jaw is adjustably connected with the said parts by the neck 12 having the ears 13 straddling the body 3 and by the pin penetrating said ears and the slot. 6 in said body. The teeth 11 of the movable jaw are upwardly pointed in order to act in opposition to the fixed jaw. Pivoted between said ears upon the pin 22 is the dog 20, formed with fine teeth 21 to cooperate with the ratchetteeth 7 formed in the upper edge of the body 3. A spring 30 serves to keep said teeth in engagement, and the tail or thumb-piece 23 enables said teeth to be disengaged for the purpose of opening the wrench-jaws to receive a section of pipe. The extremity of this tail is formed with a knob or thumb-piece Serial No. 179,682. (No model.)

proper, 24, by means of which the operator can more easily slide the movable jaw back and forth. This is done by his pressing his thumb down upon said knob until it rests upon the upper surface of the spring 30 and then moving the thumb back or forward in accordance to the direction he wishes the movable jaw to go. The convexity of said knob being held in the soft part of the operators thumb like a ball in a socket gives the required grip thereto.

The spring 30 may be fastened to the dog 20 in any desired manner, as by riveting it to the tail thereof; but my preferred method is that illustrated in Fig. 1, where I form the upper ram of the spring with the opposing bends 31 32, fitting snugly in the sockets or cavities made by the projections 26 25. rearwardly-extended flaps 14. of the ears l3 serve to retain the spring in place after the dog has been secured in position by its pin 22, although said flaps accomplish the further function of keeping the movable jaw from lateral play.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I show two different ways for keeping the movable jaw in place upon the body 3, the first consisting of the pin 15, penetrating the slot 6, and the second comprising the bridge between which, the ears 13, and the dog the part 3 is bodily included. In the latter construction the head is inserted with its handle end in advance and before the dog 20 has been put in place, as

after said dog has been introduced and its pin 22 fixed in position the parts can no longer be separated.

In operation the wrench-jaws are applied to the pipe or similar object to be turned as shown in Fig. 1.. Then the teeth 5 and 11 being in contact with the said object, the handle 2 is drawn strongly downward, and by its powerful leverage, with the dog 20 for its point of load and the teeth 5 in contact with thepipe A for its fulcrum, draws the movable jaw 10 into an engagement with said object sufficient to partially embed the teeth 11 into the sur- The face thereof and insure that such object can not possibly slip within the wrench-jaws, no matter what power is applied to the handle. Moreover, the stronger the force applied to the handle the greater the grip of the jaws. As soon, however, as pressure on the handle is reversed the jaws instantly release the pipe and enable the wrench either to be removed from the pipe or to take a fresh grip thereon. This easy release is owing to the fact that as soon as the handle is moved upward the dog 20 is made to loosen its hold on the teeth 7 of the wrench-body, so that there remains no further force pressing the jaw-teeth 11 against the pipe.

From the preceding description it is evident that this wrench is readily applied to the piping and as readily shifted and removed therefrom. It is simple in construction and requires but little machine-work to lit the working parts. It is composed of but six separate pieces, including the pins and the spring, while the form shown in Fig. 4: has only five parts.

VVhatT claimas my invention,and for which I desire Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit:

1. The combination with the wrench-body having the jaw at its end and the ratchet-teeth along a narrow face thereof, of the movable jaw having the neck parallel with, and slidable along, said toothed face; said neck having ears slidably engaging said wrench-body; a dog pivotally held by said neck and engaging said ratchet-teeth, and a leaf-spring carried by the dog and pressing against the wrench-body in order to maintain said dogs engagement therewith and preserve the normal position of the movable jaw with its neck parallel with the wrench-body, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the wrench-body having the jaw at its end, the ratchet-teeth along a narrow face thereof, and a slot extended longitudinally therein, of the movable jaw having the neck parallel with, and slidable along, said toothed face; said neck having ears loosely embracing said wrench-body;

a pin fixed in said ears and loose in said slot;'

a dog pivotally held by said neck and engaging said ratchet-teeth, such pivot being in substantially the same transverse plane with said pin; and a leaf-spring carried by said dog and bearing against the wrench-body, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the wrench-body having the jaw at its end and the ratchet-teeth along a narrow face thereof, of the movable jaw having the neck parallel with, and slidable along, said toothed face; said neck having ears slidably engaging said wrench-body, and the rearwardly-extended flaps; the dog pivoted between said flaps, and having the tail or thumb-piece; and the leaf-spring held between said tail, thumb-piece and wrenchbody, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the wrench-body having the jaw at its end and the ratchet-teeth along a narrow face thereof, of the movable jaw having its neck slidable along the wrenchbody; and the dog pivoted to said neck and having a tail or thumb-piece formed with a bulbous extremity for enabling the operators thumb to manipulate the movable jaw by its engagement with said bulbous extremity; said dog having resilient meansnormally pressing it into contact with said ratchet-teeth, substantially as described.

5. In a wrench, the combination with the handle-section comprising the body and the fixed jaw, of the movable jaw having the neck formed with the ears embracing said body, the dog pivoted between said ears and constructed to engage said body, the dog having the tail formed with the two opposing recesses therein, and the spring formed to enter said recesses and be thereby held in place, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of October, 1903.

CHARLES H. THURSTON.

Witnesses:

A. B. UPHAM, W. L. Goonnlcn. 

